CHORNOBYL: CONSEQUENCES AND RESPONSES

(Washington) – Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), Chairman of the United States Helsinki Commission, announced that the Commission will hold a hearing in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the disaster at Chornobyl.

The Legacy of Chornobyl: Health and Safety 20 Years Later

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

2:00 PM

Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2226

Panel I

Stephen G. Rademaker, Acting Assistant Secretary of State
Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation

Panel II

H.E. Oleh Shamshur

Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States

Panel III

David Marples, Ph.D., Professor of History,

Director, Stasiuk Program on Contemporary Ukraine,

Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta

Pablo Rubinstein, M.D., Director

National Cord Blood Program

New York Blood Center

Kathleen Ryan, Executive Director, USA,

Chernobyl Children's Project International

The health, environmental, and socio-economic costs of the disaster at Chornobyl continue to have a profound impact on countries in the region, especially Ukraine and Belarus, which bore the brunt of Chornobyl’s radioactive fallout. The hearing will examine the consequences of the disaster and the response of the affected countries and the international community.

The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, is a U.S. Government agency that monitors progress in the implementation of the provisions of the 1975 Helsinki Accords. The Commission consists of nine members from the United States Senate, nine from the House of Representatives, and one member each from the Departments of State, Defense and Commerce.